Back to Europe

 

    

 Home....

Never felt so good.

So happy

 All good things must come to an end.

Including the most wonderful trip with my good friend Nancy, visiting ancient ruins and some fantastic museums.  We ate pasta and gelato and learned a lot about wine and olive oil. 

 I loved the Renaissance paintings and sculpture

and Nancy loved the Roman ruins.

We both loved the small town of Cortona

So much fun

On to the next adventure - Home!! 

 It is never easy to say goodbye...

Graduation has come and gone and on Tuesday I am moving out of Rotterdam.  I will be on my way to Italy on Wednesday for a three week vacation with my good friend Nancy.  Friday was graduation, with a party on a boat and we got to see Rotterdam at night, took lots of pictures, had lots of food and drink. But first graduation:

This is my class - all of the students in my specialty which was "Strategic Urban Planning and Policy". Ester was back in Namibia, so she is up on the screen.

More importantly were my friends and classmates.  I will miss them.

Ciyin, China: Marina, Egypt; Karen, Lebanon; Sulastri, Indonesia; Nora, Russia

Dina, Egypt

Beti, Ethiopia

Yasmine & Marina, Egypt

Alicia (with husband Tim), USA

Maya, Lebanon

                                                

And last but certainly NOT least, Adrian from Mexico

Last night was another celebration with my friends from the museum group - all will be missed.

Tot ziens Rotterdam!

 Wonderful, wonderful Copenhagen... 

I could not get Danny Kaye out of my head the entire time I was in Denmark's capital city this past week.  And if you have not heard the song, look it up.

Wonderful in many ways.  Museums of course:

 

This one is based on the brothel scenes on display in Pompeii - 

And some very nice architecture:

Lots of good public spaces, free of cars and full of people, families, kids, bikes...

However... speaking of bikes, I cannot disagree more with this claim:

Probably NOT!!  If you have ever biked anywhere in the Netherlands, you will soon realize the huge difference between the two countries.  In Copenhagen, there are separated bike lanes, lots of them and not a lot of car traffic - the latter of which is especially important because there is no infrastructure at the intersections!  This makes it VERY difficult to make left hand turns, if your only guidance is painted lanes AND cars get to travel in the bike lanes!

On a scale from 1 to 10, Denmark is MAYBE a 6 and the Netherlands a 15! (BTW, the US gets a 1)

And have I mentioned the cobblestones?  They are EVERYWHERE - sidewalks, bike lanes, roads, crosswalks!  I know it is an old city, but really?  Very difficult walking and biking over so many cobblestones...  especially with a bad hip (oh yes, looks like another joint replacement coming up when I get back home).

And I am glad to soon be back home - see you on September 21.

 Done.

 CLIMATE EMERGENCY

From today's New York Times article: (https://www.nytimes.com/2022/07/27/us/politics/manchin-climate-tax-bill.html)

Manchin, in Reversal, Agrees to Quick Action on Climate and Tax Plan 

 "It was not clear what had changed Mr. Manchin's mind..."

Really?? Not clear???  Quiet Negotiations?  How about this from the New Yorker - a letter from Congressional staffers to the President:

(New Yorker July 27, 2022 https://www.newyorker.com/news/the-political-scene/climate-change-sit-in-congressional-staffers-schumer-office)

"Dear President Biden, We, the undersigned staff of the United States Congress and executive agencies, write to you today to demand that you take ambitious, assertive action before the end of July to address the climate crisis. We have worked tirelessly to achieve a safe and liveable future. Meanwhile, you have refused to declare a climate emergency. Every day that you do not act, the climate crisis spirals further out of control. 

President Biden, you have an exigent responsibility to reduce suffering all over the world, and the power and skills to do so, but time is running out. You are the President of the United States of America at a pivotal moment in the history of the world. All that we ask is that you do everything in your power. We’ve done our part. We implore you to do yours. "

This letter was followed by a sit-in at Senator Schumer's office:

"They walked into the Hart Building along with fifteen other staffers, all wearing face masks and business suits. They opened the door to Schumer’s office suite and entered in single file. “We’re here to encourage Senator Schumer to reopen negotiations on climate policy,” he said. “So we’re gonna be sitting in his office today and not leaving.”

Most of these staffers are young, dedicated and tired of the status quo.  When they tell people that they work for Congress and they they work on climate policy, they hear this:  

‘Oh, cool, you work on climate policy? Well, where the fuck is it?’ 

So they decided to write the letter followed by a sit-in (after which they were arrested).  But, the thing is, they had had enough:

“Creating leverage and whipping votes is literally Schumer’s job. We are asking him to do it as if his life depended on it, because our lives kind of do.”

When will YOU have had enough??  When will YOU stand up for what you believe and take action?

 Museums and the Beach

During my last few weeks in the Netherlands (5 to be exact) I am spending my time enjoying this country, its museums, beaches and of course, the fabulous transportation.    I returned to the village of Noordwijkerhout, where I had found a beautiful AirBNB this past spring, when I came here to see the tulips,  I needed a trip out of Rotterdam and Noordwijkerhout is near the beach, so here I am.  I've been riding some of the same roads and have seen the same tulip fields, now empty of tulips, and it looks like they are harvesting the bulbs.

Before

After

And they even have 'tulip bulb sculptures' - not sure what these are called in Dutch....

As I said, this AirBNB has a beautiful garden and it is a great place to stay:

Biking through the dunes reminded me of home:

And speaking of bikes, try riding this bike with a 30mph head wind - great exercise.  My host at the AirBNB let me use this bike when I stay here.  it is a typical Dutch 'omafiets' bike, pure steel, three speeds and very heavy. but so comfortable.

                                

                Some of the artwork from the Depot Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam

                    And the Mauritshaus in Den Haag.

See you soon.